Current communication and member directory services use static, user generated information to organize contact information. People or contacts tend to be organized according alphabetically or file hierarchies. For example, in member directory services people are commonly organized according to formal, organizational hierarchical structures. However, many relationships and groups are much more dynamic than formal, organizational hierarchical structures and people do not intuitively arrange their contacts alphabetically or according to topical hierarchies.
Computers increasingly serve as tools through which people interact and communicate with each other. Conventional computer use is task-oriented and is directed to creating items, modifying them, and storing them to non-volatile memory (e.g., hard disk drives). However, people do not view personal contacts as objects to be created, modified, or stored, and do not intuitively arrange their social contacts according to file hierarchies, or alphabetically.
A new metaphor is needed for computer social information in place of the conventional metaphors on which task-oriented computing is based. Accordingly, a social network metaphor is provided so that social items are organized depending on their relationships to each other rather than being organized according to the files and folders of conventional computing. Social information, including computer communication information, is modeled according to a network approach, and users are provided with representations of patterns within their social spaces and graphical interface tools for navigating through the spaces. This can enhance the user's ability to seek out social information and manage their online social relationships.
People tend to arrange their contacts intuitively in terms of how people and groups are related to each other, and by their importance. It would not be feasible to expect users to explicitly provide information about these dynamic groups. The present invention automatically infers these dynamic, informal relationships and groups by extracting implicit associations between people and groups from usage patterns in email and in distribution lists, for example. In one implementation, the present invention includes collecting computer communication data automatically (i.e., without user prompting), processing the data into models of network and network patterns, representing the network and network patterns to the user through graphical or textual visualizations, and providing features that allow the user to interact with the network. The implicit associations may be extracted repeatedly or periodically to accurately represent the dynamic, informal relationships between people.
An underlying theme of this invention is that people interact with each other online in the context of a social network. According to a social network perspective, individual items (persons, web pages, etc.) are viewed as interdependent and are interconnected by relational ties. The relational ties between units are channels for transfer or “flow” of resources, such as emails, files, web links, and so forth. Relational ties may vary in strength and by context. These relational ties form meaningful patterns or regularities that can be assessed automatically and exploited for the user's benefit. Patterns or regularities in a network structure are dynamic, needing to be updated automatically depending on ongoing changes in the relational ties.
Also, people tend to have an egocentric perspective when conceptualizing their social networks. People most care about how others relate to themselves. When seeking out information, navigating through a social space, or organizing items, people will generally want to start at their own place in a social network, or with people similar to or close to themselves.
Moreover, in a social context, people care about other people and their relational ties. As a consequence, in the context of online social interactions people and their relationships should be prominent in a user interface. For example, rather than initiating an online interaction through an application such as Instant Messenger, the user should be able to initiate an interaction directly through a representation of the person with whom they want to interact. In addition to making people prominent in the user interface, information about people and their relational ties should be actively employed to help people search/filter/retrieve information and objects that occupy the social space. For example, a person searching for music online should be able find mp3s that are frequently accessed by important others in his or her social network.
Finally, the success of an organization can depend on the exchange of knowledge and technology between different groups. However, any knowledge transfer across the organization and groups depends on people's awareness of who's doing what across the groups. The challenge of developing an awareness of group activities is made more formidable by the dynamic, informal nature of the social structures for many organizations. The formal structures found through org charts and internal web pages leave out a large part of the picture. Interpersonal connections, on the other hand, provide more informal, dynamic information. Currently, such knowledge transfer across individuals depends on people's attendance at meetings and conferences or the serendipity of informal encounters.
One implementation of the present invention provides an online alternative with which users can develop an awareness of the informal social structures of an organization and exploit interpersonal connections when seeking out information. In one implementation, users are provided a web-based, interactive map that allows users to navigate for information using social, relational ties such as who is working with whom, who is working on which projects, and who is working in which groups.
Additional objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the detailed description of the preferred embodiment thereof, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.